West Indies vs Zimbabwe Cricket Series 2007

WI vs ZIM, 4th ODI, Bulawayo: West Indies clinch series (3:1)

Dec 08, 2007

West Indies won the fourth one-day international against Zimbabwe by five wickets here on Friday to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Five swift wickets from man-of-the-match Jerome Taylor restricted Zimbabwe to 232-9, a target reached by the injury-depleted visitors with five wickets and three overs to spare at the Queens Sports club.
The West Indian cause was helped by a third-wicket batting partnership of 105 runs by Runako Morton (79) and Marlon Samuels (62).
Samuels was playing in his 100th opne-day international.
Zimbabwe should have made a better showing with the bat but for a leisurely approach by their opening batsmen, whose combined efforts brought no fewer than 167 runs, but from a combined total of 235 balls.
Vusimusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza's total beat by six runs the previous highest first wicket partnership for Zimbabwe set by brothers Grant and Andy Flower in 1997.
Sibanda was finally run out 96, just short of his second ODI century and Masakadza hit 80.
But they took 36 overs to achieve their tally, at only 4.8 runs per over, forcing the batsmen who followed to try and rack up the pace in a bid to reach a challenging total.
The final ODI is scheduled for here Sunday with the West Indies tour moving on next to South Africa.

West Indies defeated hosts Zimbabwe in the third one-dayer to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series on Tuesday.
Dwayne Bravo contributed 45 not out off 24 balls to lead his side to a six-wicket win over Zimbabwe.
West Indies scored 142 for four wickets after dismissing Zimbabwe for 139.
Bravo, captaining the side because Chris Gayle has a hamstring injury, won the toss and chose to bowl first.
The hosts lost wickets early - going from 14-0 to 36-3 - as its batsmen struggled to cope with the pace of Ravi Rampaul, Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor.
The only Zimbabwe batsmen to resist were former captain Tatenda Taibu - who scored 32 off 46 balls before falling to leg-spinner Rawl Lewis - and Keith Dabengwa, undefeated on 26 when the Zimbabwe innings ended in the 38th over.
The West Indies easily reached the target in only the 28th over.
The fourth match of the series will be played on Friday in Bulawayo

West Indies put their shock first one-day international defeat by Zimbabwe behind them to beat the hosts by 110 runs and level the 5-match series 1-1 at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.
The visitors scored a formidable 286-9 but captain Chris Gayle fell headlong with a leg injury going for a fast second run and was taken off by stretcher.
Zimbabwe, who won the toss and chose to field first, managed a hard working but ineffectual 176 all out in reply. Raul Lewis took three for 43 in 9.3 overs.
Gayle had scored 58 when he incurred a strained ligament to his right leg diving for the line.
It is not certain whether he will be able to play in the next match. Two days may not be enough time to repair a ligament problem.
Dwayne Bravo took over and 12th man Darren Sammy was conscripted to field.
Other significant run scorers for the tourists were Runako Morton, who added 79 in 94 balls to his 54 during the first match Friday. Marton is quickly making his mark on the tour and he now has eight ODI half-centuries.
Marlon Samuels sped to 43 in 42 balls, hitting three sixes. Also smashing three sixes during his short stay was Ravi Rampaul.
West Indies had lost Devon Smith early on, but it made no difference to their performance or their determination to succeed, even though Shivnarine Chanderpaul made an unusually low contribution of five runs.
Zimbabwe struggled to make any impression in their reply, scoring only 55 for five overs at little more than three an over. They were simply unable to break free of tight West Indies bowling.

WI vs ZIM, 1st ODI, Harare: Zimbabwe beat West Indies by 31 runs

Nov 30, 2007

Zimbabwe beat West Indies by 30 runs in their first One-Day International (ODI) cricket match on Friday in spite of an unbeaten century from Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
After being sent in to bat, Zimbabwe scored 274 for eight off 50 overs and West Indies could only muster 243 for eight in reply at the Harare Sports Club.
The dependable Chanderpaul stroked 127 not out but apart from Runako Morton, who got a half century, there was little support in the touring team's run chase.
The 33-year-old Guyanese left-hander compiled his innings from 138 balls and struck five fours and two sixes. He shared in a 118-run fourth-wicket partnership with Morton, who got 54.
Medium pacer Elton Chigumbura, who scored a brisk 38 in Zimbabwe's innings, completed a fine all-round effort by grabbing three wickets for 25 runs off eight overs to lead the Zimbabwe bowling.
Earlier, man of the match Justice Chibhabha (73) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (55) thumped aggressive half centuries in Zimbabwe's useful total.
Hamilton Masakadza (36) and Chibhabha gathered an innings best 90 runs for the fourth-wicket before West Indies captain Chris Gayle struck in successive overs with his off-spin to reduce the Zimbabweans from 168 for three to 175 for five in the 38th over.
Matsikenyeri and Chigumbura added another vital 89 in a seventh-wicket stand.
Pacer Jerome Taylor was fairly expensive with figures of two for 68 off 10 overs. Gayle claimed two for 35 off six overs, and medium pacer Dwayne Bravo was the best with two for 39 off eight overs.
The second match will be played on Sunday at the same venue.